United States Navy
United States Navy |
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Lineup | October 13, 1775 |
Country |
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Armed forces | United States Armed Forces |
Type | Armed forces ( navy ) |
Strength | 339,448 active members
103,395 reservists |
Colours | Blue & gold |
march | Anchors Aweigh |
Civil and military leadership | |
Secretary of the Navy | Kenneth J. Braithwaite |
Chief of Naval Operations | Admiral Michael M. Gilday |
Vice Chief of Naval Operations | Admiral Robert P. Burke |

The United States Navy ( USN , also US Navy for short , German also "US Navy") is the Navy of the United States of America , thus a branch of the armed forces of the United States and one of the eight Uniformed Services of the United States . In January 2020, with 339,448 active marines and 103,395 reservists, it was the strongest and most powerful navy in the world and at that time comprised 296 ships as well as numerous aircraft and helicopters.
In 2008 the naval historians James L. Holmes and Toshi Yoshihara saw the undisputed control of the world's oceans by the US Navy as "an almost axiomatic feature of current international politics". Internally, the Navy dominates the armed forces, for example due to its de facto demand monopoly in domestic shipbuilding, and according to Harvey Sapolsky et al. a. the status of a "second Ministry of Defense ."
history
The United States Navy goes back to the great Continental Navy , which was established on October 13, 1775 by the American Continental Congress . At first it consisted of just two armed ships, whose job it was to disrupt the supplies of the British, who at the time were waging war against the Americans who were striving for independence. The Continental Congress also established a Naval Committee to oversee the operations and construction of the new Navy. At the height of the War of Independence , the Continental Navy owned around 50 ships, of which around 20 were always active. After the war, the Continental Congress sold the remaining ships and dismissed the sailors and officers.
The United States Constitution, ratified in 1789, empowered the newly created United States Congress "to provide and maintain a navy." By virtue of this authority, on March 27, 1794, Congress decided to build six frigates , the first three of which, the USS United States , USS Constellation, and USS Constitution , entered service in 1797.
The administration of the Navy was initially settled with the War Department until the Congress set up an independent Navy Department on April 30, 1798 .
Towards the end of the 19th century, the federal government initiated a large-scale armament and modernization program for the Navy. During these years, US industry developed its enormous potential at a rapid pace. A few years before the First World War , the USA rose to become the largest economic power in the world. The naval armament push was also motivated by the theses of Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan . In 1914 the US Navy had, among other things, more than 30 battleships and had grown to become the third strongest navy in the world after the British Royal Navy and the German Imperial Navy . In 1918 some balance of power had changed (see History of the French Navy # 20th Century ).
The relationship between the US Navy and the Royal Navy in the first half of the 20th century was characterized by rivalry on a bureaucratic and strategic level. During World War I, the United Kingdom limited its requests for assistance regarding the role of the American Navy to convoy operations . Furthermore, the Royal Navy persistently levied license fees from the US Navy on equipment that was indispensable for the latter's mobilization. As a result, the US Navy pushed through its request for parity with the Royal Navy at the Washington Naval Conference of 1921/22 . The US Navy underpinned its interest in a pioneering role in the Allied naval operations of the Second World War by withholding ships built in the USA to reinforce the Royal and Royal Canadian Navy in the event of a dispute , so that they had to be content with accompanying convoy for the most part.

When the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor hit hard at first, had the US Navy in World War II in the Pacific significant contribution to the defeat of the Japanese Empire, in particular in the fighting
Towards the end of World War II, the US Navy was about five times the size of the British Royal Navy, a head start that has grown steadily since then. The US Navy put a one-sided end to the rivalry by initially refusing to approve the North Atlantic Treaty in 1948 . Due to their prestige, this attitude prevented the ratification in the Senate, which is necessary for the alliance to be legally binding .
The background to this was the originally envisaged division of roles between the United States and the United Kingdom in the NATO command structure . In diplomatic negotiations, the United States had granted its British allies the nomination of Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic . In return, the USA claimed the general command of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) by a general in the US Army , who should command the overall defense of Western Europe in the event of a crisis . The resistance of the US Navy could only be dissolved when it was allowed to take command of the Atlantic itself, after which it allowed the Royal Navy to defend the English Channel under the less significant Channel Command .
After the Second World War, the Navy suffered serious cuts in its budget. The total strength of the fleet in 1945 was 6768 ships (including landing craft and supplies), while in 1950 it was just 634 units. In addition to the landing units, around 80 aircraft carriers and 150 submarines were decommissioned. The Navy was also hit hard by the suspension of its new supercarrier , the USS United States (CVA-58) , construction of which was stopped just five days after the keel was laid in 1949. This triggered the so-called admiral uprising .
In the years that followed, the Navy began building new aircraft carriers and cruisers. In order to meet the growing submarine fleet of the Soviet Union, old destroyers were upgraded from 1959 in the Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization program .
During the Cold War , the USN, like all other genera, was part of the arms race . In 1987, with 568 ships, the greatest unit strength of this era was reached. From the early 1960s, the US Navy's strategic submarine fleet was greatly expanded. At times it comprised more than 40 ships. It has played a major role in nuclear deterrence for decades ; it shall in case of a nuclear war , the second-strike capability to ensure the United States.
In 1991/92 the Tailhook scandal rocked the US Navy and damaged its reputation, and especially that of naval aviators .
The foreign and military policy of the United States is essentially based on the power of its aircraft carrier that, in so-called carrier battle groups ( Carrier Strike Groups or short CSG , formerly Carrier Vessel Battle Groups or CVBG ) organized, are quickly able threat potential of lake and to carry out military operations over a longer period of time independently of allies and land-based bases.
The USN operates out of large home bases on the territory of the USA, of which the largest and best known in Norfolk ( Virginia ) and San Diego ( California ) are located. The naval base in Guantánamo Bay in Cuba is also known .
Mission and Doctrine
Legal basis
The United States Navy, like the entirety of the armed forces, is constitutionally legitimized in Article II, Section 2, Section I, Sentence 1 and Article I, Section 8, Sentences 11 and 14 of the United States Constitution . The specification of the Navy's mandate takes place in Subtitle C, Part I, Chapter 507, Section 5062, Paragraph (a) of Book Tenth of the United States Code . In addition to the mandate, this section also specifies the composition of the land force and its affiliation. It reads in translation:
“The Navy, which is a division of the Department of the Navy , generally includes armed forces for naval warfare, forces in support thereof, and air forces, insofar as they fit into this context. It should primarily be organized, trained and equipped for immediate and permanent combat at sea. It is responsible for the preparation of the forces necessary for effective warfare, with the exception of other instructions, and is to provide, in accordance with cross-armed mobilization plans , for the [sufficient] expansion of [their] troops in peacetime to meet the requirements of the war. "
Thought leader
The most important theoretician of the USN is Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan , who published his sea power theories in 1890 in the book The Influence of Sea Power upon History . To this day, they determine the thinking of the USN to a considerable extent. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz later defined the goals and duties of his navy. The government under Ronald Reagan and especially the Secretary of the Navy John F. Lehman formulated the goal of expanding the Navy to 600 ships in 1982/83 . However, this could not be maintained in the long term for reasons of cost. After all, the most powerful remaining battleships of World War II were reactivated during this period and kept in active service for several years.
Maritime doctrines
The USN has developed and partially published a number of doctrines together with the US Marine Corps over time . The first published strategy appeared in 1986 under the name The Maritime Strategy . Among other things, it contained the program of the 600-ship Navy.
In 1992 the strategic concept "... From the sea " was adopted, which was expanded in 1994 under the title "Forward ... from the sea" .
In 2002, in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001 , another concept called Sea Power 21 was created , which was supplemented by Naval Power 21 for the USN area .
In October 2007, a joint strategy was first adopted by USN, USMC and USCG . It is entitled A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower .
organization
guide
Political leadership
The organization of the United States Navy is based on the requirements of the Goldwater-Nichols Act .
Administrative lead lies with the Department of the Navy , a division of the US Department of Defense in the Pentagon headed by the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV).
He is the senior officer of the Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) and his deputy, the Vice Chief of Naval Operations reports. The Chief of Naval Operations is responsible for the Navy's military affairs and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . He is responsible for the organization, training and equipment of the Navy.
Military leadership
In August 2019, the leadership of the Navy consists of the following people:
- Minister of the Navy ( Secretary of the Navy ) Richard V. Spencer
- Admiral Chief of Staff ( Chief of Naval Operations ): Admiral John M. Richardson
- Deputy Chief of Staff Admiral ( Vice Chief of Naval Operations ): Admiral Robert P. Burke
- Chief Sergeant ( Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy ): MCPON Russell L. Smith
Ranks
- Small selection of ranks
United States Navy officers | |||||||||||
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US pay level | O-10 | O-9 | O-8 | O-7 | O-6 | O-5 | O-4 | O-3 | O-2 | O-1 | |
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Rank | Fleet Admiral 1 | admiral | Vice Admiral | Rear Admiral (uh) 2 | Rear Admiral (lh) 2 | Captain | Commander | Lieutenant Commander | Lieutenant | Lieutenant Junior Grade | Ensign |
abbreviation | FADM | ADM | VADM | RADM | RDML | CAPT | CDR | LCDR | LT | LTJG | ENS |
NATO rank code | OF-10 | OF-9 | OF-8 | OF-7 | OF-6 | OF-5 | OF-4 | OF-3 | OF-2 | OF-1 | OF-D |
1 Awarded only in wartime with the approval of the US Congress. 2 The rank of Rear Admiral is divided into two pay levels ( lower half and upper half ). Today these ranks are each admiral. In the 19th century, however, today's Rear Admiral (lh), i.e. a 1-star admiral, was called Commodore and was not a flag officer, but a captain with an extended area of responsibility. |
Fleets

Since World War II, the USN has been structurally divided into numbered fleets , each with a specific area of responsibility. This numbering was not always consistent in the period after the Second World War, as some fleets were grouped together when there were structural changes. Gaps emerged, such as B. 1973 when the first fleet was restructured as the third fleet, these were simply released and not filled by renumbering the remaining fleets. After the re-establishment of a fourth and fifth fleet, only a first fleet is currently missing.
Second fleet, Atlantic
In peacetime, the Second Fleet is responsible for the combat training of the naval units in the Atlantic, develops and evaluates new tactics and keeps a combat group on standby. Its main area of operation is the Atlantic Ocean from the North to the South Pole and from the coast of the United States to the west coast of Europe. It also operates along both coasts of South America and parts of the west coast of Central America. In total, their area of application is more than 98 million km² (38 million square miles). The headquarters of the Second Fleet is Norfolk , the flagship is the amphibious assault ship of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima . The association consists of a mixture of aircraft carriers, overseas and submarine units, reconnaissance groups, amphibious landing forces and logistics units. On September 30, 2011, the second fleet was disbanded in order to invest the money saved in new ships. On May 4, 2018, the Navy announced that it would reactivate the Second Fleet in the wake of tensions with Russia and China's military progress . Formally, this took place on August 24, 2018. Vice Admiral Andrew Lewis took command.
Third Fleet, Central and Eastern Pacific
The main task of the Third Fleet is to monitor the waters of the eastern and central Pacific, from Alaska to Hawaii. The four aircraft carriers USS Nimitz (CVN 68), USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) were assigned to the fleet to cope with this task. The headquarters of the Third Fleet is located in Pearl Harbor , Hawaii . There is no designated flagship.
Fourth Fleet, Caribbean and Central and South America
On July 1, 2008 the 4th US fleet was reactivated. The commander also holds the post of commander of the US Naval Forces Southern Command (NAVSO), the Navy Combatant Command of the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM).
US Senator Bill Nelson of the Democratic Party of Florida leads four reasons for the formation of the fleet, "the growing economic strength of Brazil , the aggressive hostility of Venezuela , the increasing trade through the Panama Canal and the age of Fidel Castro ". The French newspaper Le Figaro became even clearer: "In order to counter the growing left-wing governments in their backyard, the USA decided to re-establish the fourth fleet."
It is grouped around the two amphibious assault ships USS Kearsarge and USS Boxer .
Fifth Fleet, Middle East
The Fifth Fleet maintains a visible presence in the Persian Gulf as well as in the adjacent sea areas. It was originally formed on April 26, 1944 from units of the Central Pacific Fleet and disbanded after the war. During the First Gulf War , the region was patrolled by forces from both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets. In July 1995 the events made a separate fleet for this region necessary. The Fifth Fleet was set up a second time after 48 years and is now cruising in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea and the Arabian Sea . The headquarters are in Manama ( Bahrain ). This association usually consists of at least one carrier group, an amphibious group and other land-based naval aviators and other surface and underwater units. There is no designated flagship .
Sixth Fleet, Mediterranean
The headquarters of the Sixth Fleet (Sixth Fleet) is located on the amphibious command ship Blue Ridge class USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) with homeport Gaeta ( Italy ). The Sixth Fleet consists of around 40 ships, 175 aircraft and 21,000 men in combat and support units, which are divided into at least one carrier group, an amphibious group, a naval expedition unit (MEU), a logistics group and a submarine group.
Seventh Fleet, Western Pacific and Indian Oceans
The Seventh Fleet , established during World War II , is the largest of all American front-line fleets with 50–60 ships, 350 aircraft and 60,000 men. The Seventh Fleet and its task forces have three main tasks:
- Assistance in natural disasters and joint military operations
- Operational management of all Navy units in the region
- Defense of the Korean Peninsula.
Of the ships currently assigned to the Seventh Fleet, 18 operate from US bases in Japan and Guam , including the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) as America's only aircraft carrier permanently stationed outside the United States. These 18 ships are the central element of the American presence in Asia. They are 17 days closer to potential conflict areas in Asia than their counterparts at bases in the US. The flagship of the Seventh Fleet is the amphibious ship USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19) , based in Yokosuka , Japan.
Tenth fleet; US Fleet Cyber Command / US Tenth Fleet
The 10th fleet was built up from 1941 and officially set up on May 20, 1943. Their task was to protect the US home waters against attacks, especially German submarines. In particular, she was responsible for the development of new anti-submarine methods. It was dissolved in 1945.
In 2010 the US Navy set up its own cyber command and designated it as the 10th Fleet with reference to its tradition as an experimental command. It reports to the Chief of Naval Operations . The headquarters are in Fort George G. Meade , Maryland . The task of the commander of the 10th Fleet is to lead all cyber forces of the US Navy worldwide and to lead cyber operations. This includes electronic warfare .
Troops
Special forces
With the US Navy SEALs and the Special Boat Squadrons (SBS), both of which are subordinate to the United States Naval Special Warfare Command (NAVSPECWARCOM), the US Navy has two special forces at its disposal. Both units were set up in the Vietnam War and are the US Navy units responsible for unconventional warfare . A special part of these units together forms the Naval Special Warfare Development Group (DEVGRU), a special unit with the focus on counter-terrorism and hostage rescue . It is also administratively and technically subordinate to the US Naval Special Warfare Command (NAVSOC), but operationally to the US Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), the united special command for the global military fight against terrorism. This means that the Navy trains, provides and equips this unit, but has no operational command over it, as it lies with the JSOC and thus with the superordinate US Special Operations Command (SOCOM).
Military justice
Law enforcement for the Navy and Marine Corps is carried out by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) in addition to the on- site military police . The Judge Advocate General's Corps of the US Navy ("JAG") deals with the legal side and legal advice to commanders .
medical corps
The Medical Corps (United States Navy) is responsible for the medical services of the US Navy and the US Marine Corps . The Commanding Officer of Navy Medicine is the Surgeon General of the Navy . He is the chief of the US Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) in Washington, DC
Ethos
The Navy maintains the greatest degree of tradition within the United States Armed Forces. Most marines see themselves as part of one of mainly three communities, each of which is anchored in a particular weapon platform (platform communities) and themselves have further social subdivisions; these are the ships on the water surface (surface warfare) , submarines and naval aviation . As part of a strong general identification, these different identities come into play primarily in political processes, for example the annual distribution of the defense budget .
Recruitment and training
Basic training
The basic training in the United States Navy , unlike the other armed forces, is held centrally and lasts 8 weeks. The training facility, Recruit Training Command , is located on Naval Station Great Lakes , in North Chicago , Lake County , Illinois .
Officer training
The United States Naval Academy (USNA) is the central institute for the training of candidate officers in the Navy and the US Marine Corps (USMC ). The USNA is one of the most renowned universities in the country. It is funded by the Department of Defense and is located on the north side of the city of Annapolis , Maryland on Chesapeake Bay .
Another option for becoming an officer in the US Navy or Marine Corps is through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC), which offers military training alongside a civilian college degree. Currently, 20 percent of Navy officers and 11 percent of officers in the USMC are graduating from the NROTC. Applicants who have completed a college degree program can also by participating in a 12-week course at the Officer Candidate School in the US Navy in Newport ( Rhode Iceland qualify) for an officer in the US Navy.
The higher academic education takes place at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California , while the Naval War College in Newport, RI is for higher military education and research.
equipment
From a quantitative point of view, the US Navy's ship population is declining overall. During the Second World War, the armed forces had almost 6,700 ships. The total fleet was reduced to 350 units after the Cold War, in which the navy of the 600 ships stood out. In 2009 the number of ships added up to around 280.
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11 aircraft carriers
- 10 Nimitz class (CVN-68 to CVN-77)
- 1 Gerald R. Ford Class (CVN-78)
- 22 cruisers
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70 submarines
- 32 Los Angeles class
- 18 Ohio class
- 3 Seawolf class (one of which is heavily modified for special operations)
- 17 Virginia class
- 11 minesweepers
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36 auxiliary ships
- 4 supply class
- 9 Lewis and Clark class general cargo ships
- 14 Henry J. Kaiser class fuel transporters
- 4 Victorious-class research vessels
- 1 Impeccable-class research vessel
- 4 Powhatan class deep- sea tugs
Classification
The US Navy uses letter abbreviations to classify a ship type. These abbreviations with a serial number are part of the ship's name, e.g. B. "USS NIMITZ (CVN-68)".
- AE (Ammunition Ship) : ammunition transporter
- AFS (Combat Stores Ship)
- AGOS (Ocean Surveillance Ship) : research vessels
- AO (Fleet Oiler) : fleet tanker
- AOE (Fast Combat Support Ship) : fast support ship
- ATF (Fleet Ocean Tug) : deep sea tugs
- BB (Battleship) : battleship (meanwhile all ships of this class have been retired)
- CG (Guided Missile Cruiser) : Guided Missile Cruiser
- CGN ( Guided Missile Cruiser Nuclear) : nuclear cruiser (meanwhile all ships of this class have been decommissioned)
- CV (Cruiser, heavier-than-air craft) : aircraft carrier (meanwhile all ships of this class have been decommissioned)
- CVN (Cruiser heavier-than-air craft Nuclear) : Nuclear propelled aircraft carrier
- DD (Destroyer) : Destroyer (meanwhile all ships of this class have been retired)
- DDG (Guided Missile Destroyer) : guided missile destroyer
- FF (Frigate) : Frigate (meanwhile all ships of this class have been decommissioned)
- FFG (Guided Missile Frigate) : guided missile frigate
- LCC ( Amphibious Command Ship ) : amphibious command ship
- LCS ( Littoral Combat Ship ) : coastal combat ship
- LHA ( Landing Ship, Helicopter Assault ) : amphibious helicopter assault ship
- LHD ( Landing Ship, Helicopter Assault, Dock ) : amphibious helicopter attack ship with floodable dock-general capacities (mixture of LHA and LPD)
- LPD ( Landing Platform Dock ) : Amphibious dock ship
- LSD (Landing Ship, Dock) : Dock landing ship
- MCM (Mine Countermeasures Ship) : Mine hunting boats / mine layers
- SSBN ( Ship Submersible Ballistic Nuclear ) : Nuclear-propelled missile submarine with ballistic missiles
- SSGN ( Ship Submersible Guided Missile Nuclear ) : Nuclear-powered missile submarine with cruise missiles
- SSN ( Ship Submersible Nuclear ) : Nuclear-powered hunting submarine
Notable ships
Aircraft carriers are the Navy's most important weapon, both militarily and politically. With their aircraft they can demonstrate military power from a neutral location (international waters) far into hostile territory and exert political pressure at any point in the world.
- Independence class , created during the Second World War by converting cruiser hulls.
- Nimitz class (10 ships), currently in service.
- USS Enterprise (CVN 65) , US Navy's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier.
- USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) , the last US oil-fired aircraft carrier to be retired in 2009 after 47 years.
Submarines are the Navy's strategic weapon and can serve both to monitor enemy naval activities and as a platform for guided missiles (including nuclear).
- USS George Washington - first nuclear submarine with ballistic missiles (is often referred to as the first submarine with ballistic missiles, but the Soviet Union already had converted Zulus at that time.)
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Los Angeles-class submarine
- USS Greeneville - collided with a Japanese freighter in 2001
- USS Nautilus (SSN-571) - first nuclear-powered submarine (1955)
- USS Scorpion - lost in an accident in 1968
- USS Thresher - Sunk in an accident in 1963

- USS Arizona - Pennsylvania-class, sunk in the attack on Pearl Harbor
- USS Missouri - Iowa-class battleship on which Japan signed the surrender in 1945, and the last US Navy battleship
- USS Texas - D-Day flagship
Cruiser :
- USS Indianapolis - heavy cruiser sunk by Japanese submarine. Previously transported an atomic bomb.
- USS Long Beach - First nuclear powered surface ship in the world and first nuclear cruiser .
- USS Vincennes - shot down a civil Iranian Airbus A300 in the Persian Gulf in 1988
- USS Cole - badly damaged in a terrorist bombing in Aden ( Yemen )
- USS Reuben James - the first American loss in World War II
Others :
- Mercy-class hospital ships
- Pegasus class - hydrofoils
- Sea Shadow - first true stealth ship in the Navy
- USS Swift (HSV-2) - high-speed catamaran
- USS Constitution - the world's oldest warship still in service that is still floating
- USS Akron (ZRS-4) and USS Macon (ZRS-5) rigid airships, could u. a. Drop and pick up reconnaissance aircraft
- USS Liberty - reconnaissance ship, badly damaged by Israeli forces
Naval aircraft
See also: U.S. Forces Active Aircraft List , United States Military Aviation History
The Navy is currently operating the F / A-18A-D “Hornet” and F / A-18E / F “Super Hornet” fighters from its aircraft carriers . For electronic warfare , the Navy maintains an EA-6B “Prowler” fleet on its carriers , which has been replaced by the EA-18G “Growler” , a modification of the Super Hornet , since 2009 . Until 2009 the S-3 "Viking" were stationed on the carriers for submarine hunting and air refueling . The E-2C "Hawkeye" is used as an early warning aircraft. In September 2006, the F-14 "Tomcat" officially withdrawn from service in 2004 was the the Tomcat belonging AIM-54 Phoenix , the only long-range air-to-air missile of the US armed forces decommissioned. The F-35C Lightning II , which is currently in the test phase, will be put into service from 2016 .
The Navy also maintains various helicopters. The standard platform today is the SH-60 "Sea Hawk" , until 2009 models of the SH-3 "Sea King" were also in service.
From land, the Navy uses the P-3 "Orion" , which has been the Navy's only active maritime patrol aircraft since the S-3 "Viking" was retired . The Orions are to be replaced from 2013 by the new P-8 “Poseidon” .
Aircraft used historically by the Navy include the following other fixed and rotary wing aircraft:
- Douglas A-3 "Skywarrior"
- Douglas A-4 "Skyhawk"
- Grumman A-6 "Intruder"
- Vought A-7 "Corsair II"
- Vought A-8 "Crusader"
- Grumman F-14 "Tomcat"
- McDonnell F-4 "Phantom II"
- North American A-5 (training aircraft only, no carrier deployment)
- CH-46 "Sea Knight"
- CH-53 "Sea Stallion"
- SH-2 "Seasprite"
The US Navy also maintains an aerobatic team, the Blue Angels . The Navy's elite flight school, the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School , better known as Top Gun from the film of the same name , has an excellent reputation.
As soon as the US President is on board a Navy aircraft, it receives the Navy One call sign .
Further development
The Navy is planning three aircraft carriers of the new Gerald R. Ford class . The Navy cruisers are to be replaced by ships from the CG (X) program. Details about construction figures are not yet known. The Arleigh Burke destroyer program is set to continue. The Los Angeles class hunting submarines are to be gradually replaced by the new Virginia class . A replacement for the Ohio class is not planned for the time being.
The shipbuilding plan submitted to Congress in 2006 provides for a navy size of 313 ships. By 2038, 31 support ships, 20 utilities, 20 coastal combat ships , 12 submarines with ballistic missiles, more than 50 hunting submarines, almost 80 littoral combat ships , 70 cruisers and destroyers and seven aircraft carriers should be built.
However, this is offset by considerable financial problems. In 2008, the US Congressional Department of Budgets estimated that the Navy's 30-year program would cost $ 25 billion a year, nearly a third more than budgeted. In addition, the construction program is accompanied by crises: the Zumwalt destroyer program is prematurely canceled after three ships; 32 units were once planned. The development of the Littoral Combat Ships doubles the budget. One of them, the lead ship USS Freedom (LCS-1) , was launched on September 23, 2006 and entered service in November 2008. In addition, the Ford-class aircraft carriers will significantly exceed the planned cost of $ 13.7 billion each.
Signal sign
In 1859 Martha Coston (1826–1904) received a patent (No. 23,596) for the system of pyrotechnic signals that she had developed over a period of more than ten years and that is still an integral part of communications in the United States Navy. Martha Coston founded her own companies, the Coston Signal Company and the Coston Supply Company, which were in operation until 1985. Their invention played an important role, especially in the Civil War .
bases
Main article: List of United States Navy bases
The size, complexity and international presence require a large number of bases to sustain the armed forces' operations. While the majority of the bases are, with a few exceptions, on the west and east coasts of the country, the Navy operates a significant number of bases in countries with which the United States has established statutes for the stationing of troops .
East coast
In the Hampton Roads region in the state of Virginia , the largest naval base in the world has emerged from a collection of defense companies, institutions and docks, which is due to the very favorable geographical conditions of this region. The US Navy owns a total of 146 km² of land here. The Naval Station Norfolk is the home port of the Atlantic Fleet . The state of Florida also stands out among the series of bases on the east coast , as it houses the third largest naval base, Naval Station Mayport , as well as one of the most important naval airfields, Naval Air Station Pensacola . The main submarine base, Naval Submarine Base New London , is in Groton , Connecticut . Two of the four Navy owned yards, the Norfolk Naval Shipyard and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard , are on the east coast.
West Coast
The second largest naval complex in the United States, Naval Base San Diego , is located in San Diego , California . In addition to the home port of the Pacific Fleet, the Naval Special Warfare Center , the training center for the SEALs , is also located here . Another cluster of institutions is in Puget Sound , Washington , which includes the Navy's most advanced base, Naval Station Everett , and the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard . The headquarters of the Pacific Fleet and other facilities are located in Pearl Harbor , Hawaii . The Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard is also located there .
Selection of important bases abroad
- Manama, Bahrain - Headquarters of the Fifth Fleet
- Gaeta (Italy) - Headquarters of the Sixth Fleet
- Yokosuka, Japan - Seventh Fleet headquarters and home port of the flagship of the Seventh Fleet USS Blue Ridge
- Guantánamo Bay - Small part of the south coast of Cuba , leased from the USA. Used as a naval base and a controversial prison camp for suspected terrorists.
- Diego Garcia ( Indian Ocean ) - Joint base with Great Britain .
- Humphrey Bogart - actor
- Ernest Borgnine , Gunner's Mate, First Class Actor
- George HW Bush , Lieutenant - Former US President , youngest naval aviator during World War II
- Jimmy Carter , Lieutenant Commander - former US President, Cold War submarine driver, later Nobel Prize -carrier
- Roger B. Chaffee , Lieutenant Commander - Astronaut , Apollo 1
- John Coltrane , Seamen First Class - jazz - saxophonist
- Bill Cosby - actor
- Kirk Douglas , Lieutenant Junior Grade actor
- Henry Fonda , Lieutenant Junior Grade actor, served with Naval Intelligence during World War II
- Gus Hall , Machinist's Mate - American politician of the CPUSA
- Grace Hopper , Rear Admiral - American computer scientist
- Lyndon B. Johnson , Commander - Former US President, received the Silver Star for his service in the South Pacific
- John F. Kennedy , Lieutenant - Former US President, Speedboat Commander in World War II
- John Sidney McCain III , Captain - Naval aviator in the Vietnam War, was a prisoner of war for five years from 1968–1973, US Senator from Arizona , two-time US presidential candidate (2000 and 2008)
- Richard M. Nixon , Commander - Former US President, World War II supplies officer
- Hyman Rickover , Admiral - Immigrant from Poland, head of the nuclear submarine program
- Alan Shepard , Rear Admiral - Naval aviator, first American astronaut ( Mercury program ), 5th man on the moon ( Apollo program )
- John Young , Captain - Naval Aviator, and Gemini , Apollo , and Space Shuttle pilot
See also
- United States Navy Marine Mammal Program
- Anchors Aweigh
- Designation system for ships in the United States Armed Forces
literature
- Dirk Bönker: Militarism in a global age. Naval ambitions in Germany and the United States before World War I. Cornell University Press, Ithaca NY u. a. 2012, ISBN 978-0-8014-5040-2 .
- Sebastian Bruns: World Sea Power and Maritime Security: Selected Strategies, Capacities and Challenges of the United States of America. In: Sebastian Bruns, Kerstin Petretto, David Petrovic: Maritime Security. VS-Verlag, Wiesbaden 2013, ISBN 978-3-531-18479-1 , pp. 165-182.
- Sebastian Bruns: Between Top Gun and Homer Simpson. The US Navy and popular culture. In: MarineForum , 10/2010, pp. 51-53.
- Elmer B. Potter, Chester W. Nimitz , Jürgen Rohwer : Seemacht. A history of naval warfare from antiquity to the present . Bernard & Graefe, Munich 1974, ISBN 3-7637-5112-2 .
- Denise E. Pilato: Martha Coston: A Woman, a War, and a Signal to the World. In: International Journal of Naval History. Vol. 1, No. April 1, 2002.
- Martha J. Coston: A Signal Success. The Life and Travels of Mrs. Martha J. Coston. Lippincott Co., Philadelphia PA 1886.
Web links
- The official website US Navy (English)
- Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports regarding the US Navy. (No longer available online.) University of North Texas Libraries, archived from the original on Aug. 12, 2007 ; Retrieved December 14, 2010 . (English)
- Photographic History of The US Navy. In: Naval History. NavSource, accessed March 6, 2011 . (English)
- Haze Gray & Underway - Naval History and Photography. HazeGray.org, accessed December 14, 2010 . (English)
- US Navy Ships. In: Military Analysis Network. Federation of America Scientists, accessed December 30, 2010 . (English)
- archived version of The National Security Strategy of the United States of America. Retrieved March 8, 2017 . (English)
- US Code Title 10, Subtitle C: Legal Organizational Basis of the US Navy (English)
- U.S. Navy Active Ship Force Levels, 1886-present . ( Memento from December 30, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Naval History and Heritage Command (English)
- Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships . Naval History and Heritage Command
- Coston flags . (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Status of the Navy . US Navy website as of January 2020; accessed on April 3, 2020.
- ↑ James R. Holmes, Toshi Yoshihara: Chinese Naval Strategy in the 21st Century - The Turn to Mahan. Routledge, Abingdon 2008, p. 1.
- ↑ “ The Navy is a second DoD. "Harvey M. Sapolsky et al. a .: US Defense Politics - The Origins of Security Policy. Routledge, New York / Abingdon 2009, p. 118.
- ↑ Harvey M. Sapolsky et al. a .: US Defense Politics - The Origins of Security Policy. Routledge, New York / Abingdon 2009, pp. 118f.
- ↑ Harvey M. Sapolsky et al. a .: US Defense Politics - The Origins of Security Policy. Routledge, New York / Abingdon 2009, p. 119.
- ↑ German translation (PDF; 201 kB) of the constitution on the Internet at the United States Embassy in Berlin. Accessed September 3, 2008.
- ↑ § 5062. United States Navy: composition; functions , Source: Cornell Law School Collection of Legal Texts - accessed September 3, 2008.
- ↑ : Overview of strategic documents in the collection of Johns Hopkins University ( memento of the original from February 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ : The Maritime Strategy ( Memento of the original from July 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. published by the US Naval Institute as a supplement to the USNI Proceedings, January 1986.
- ↑ : Forward… from the sea ( Memento of the original from July 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Sea Power 21
- ↑ A Cooperative Strategy for 21st Century Seapower ( Memento from February 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ; PDF; 1.9 MB)
- ^ Secretary of the Navy Bio. In: Navy.mil. Retrieved August 6, 2019 .
- ^ US Navy website. September 18, 2015, accessed April 16, 2017 .
- ^ Leadership Biographies. In: Navy.mil. Retrieved August 6, 2019 .
- ↑ Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Bio. In: Navy.mil. Retrieved August 6, 2019 .
- ^ Navy re-establishes Atlantic fleet to check Russia . politico.com
- ^ US 2nd Fleet Establishment Ceremony . navylive.dodlive.mil (official blog of the US Navy)
- ↑ Biography . navy.mil
- ↑ cusns.navy.mil, accessed on August 4, 2008.
- ↑ bizjournals.com
- ↑ 4th Fleet returns, gunning for drug smugglers . In: Navy Times , April 26, 2008.
- ↑ Official announcement of the US Navy regarding the deployment of the FCC / 10th Fleet (English)
- ^ History of the 10th Fleet at US Fleet Cyber Command / US Tenth Fleet , accessed June 11, 2019
- ↑ Homepage US Fleet Cyber Command / US Tenth Fleet , accessed June 11, 2019
- ↑ Harvey M. Sapolsky et al. a .: US Defense Politics - The Origins of Security Policy. Routledge, New York / Abingdon 2009, p. 123, cit. based on Carl Builder: The Masks of War: American Military Styles in Strategy and Analysis. Johns Hopkins University Press , Baltimore 1989.
- ↑ Harvey M. Sapolsky et al. a .: US Defense Politics - The Origins of Security Policy. Routledge, New York / Abingdon 2009, p. 123.
- ↑ See Robert D. Kaplan: China's Two-Ocean Strategy. In :, Abraham Denmark, Patel Nirav (Ed.): China's Arrival: A Strategic Framework for a Global Relationship. (PDF) Center for a New American Security , Washington 2009, p. 46.
- ↑ US Navy puts the most modern rocket destroyer "Zumwalt" into operation. October 16, 2016, accessed November 7, 2016 .
- ↑ See English Wikipedia page on Martha Coston .